Twisters’ attention set squarely on Copperheads
Posted on Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Arkansas Twisters had a 17-point lead and the ball midway through the third quarter with first-and-goal at their opponent’s 10.
It was April 19, the fifth game this season, and Arkansas was in Houston playing the Texas Copperheads, who had lost 15 consecutive games dating to May 13, 2007.
None of that mattered that day as Texas came back to win 37-30. Arkansas’ record dropped to 2-3, and its players were stunned.
“We had a 30-13 lead,” Arkansas Coach Chris Siegfried said. “We had the ball in the red zone, firstand-goal with seven minutes left in the third quarter, and we lose the game. It was just a tough, tough loss.
“ Fortunately for us, we have a bunch of fighters on this team.” Arkansas bounced back to win eight of its next 10 games, ensuring a home game in the Arena Football 2 playoffs. It plays Texas again tonight still in the hunt for an AF 2 National Conference Central Division championship. Kickoff at North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena is scheduled for 7: 05 p.m.
“That game showed that if we don’t come to play, we can get beat by anybody,” Arkansas defensive back Jamie Hattley said. “It was sort of a wake-up call. I’ll give them credit. They played hard. They had their crowd going for them. It was their night.
“ They got some momentum going, but now we’re looking forward to playing them in our house.” Siegfried said Texas will be playing a different team tonight.
“I promise, Texas is going to come in here and get a very, very good Arkansas Twisters team,” he said. “They better bring more than their ‘A’ game because we’re going to play the best football we can play, and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing this weekend. We’re prepared for Texas.
“ I’m not going to say it’s not possible for them to beat us. Obviously, that’s possible. But we remember that game very well, and I will be reminding our guys of that game at every point of this game Saturday night.” At least one Arkansas player, wide receiver Jon Schoonover, doesn’t remember much about that night in Texas. He took a knee to his helmet on a first-half kickoff and played from that point through a mental fog.
“The whole night was weird,” Schoonover said. “The game, the ride back, everything was kind of different.” Siegfried and Arkansas quarterback Kyle Rowley said they recognized Schoonover’s and their team’s dilemma, which was made more significant when wide receiver Jamaal Perry left the game for good with a rib injury late in the first half.
“We could tell something was wrong [with Schoonover ],” Rowley said. “He just wasn’t answering questions, but he said he wanted to go and we were kind of in a bind. That’s what happened, but we should’ve overcome it.” Perry missed the next two games, but the Twisters signed wide receiver Chris Denney on April 22 and he caught a total of 21 passes for 325 yards and 8 touchdowns during Perry’s absence.
Perry returned for Arkansas’ 69-55 victory over Bossier-Shreveport on May 24 to help start a teamrecord seven-game winning streak, and Arkansas’ receiving corps of Denney, Perry and Schoonover remains in place.
Siegfried said the Texas loss was “an eye-opener” for his team.
“We realized that our receivers at that point in time, as a whole, weren’t very good,” he said. “Individual parts, with [Perry ] and [Schoonover ], were very good, but we just didn’t have the right mix. That doesn’t mean those guys who didn’t work out weren’t good players. It just means they weren’t good for the system that I run.” Receivers Patrick Rouzard, Jim Jones and LaRue Burley have since been cut or traded.
“Obviously the pickup of Chris Denney was huge,” Siegfried said. “We relied on him heavily early because [Perry ] was hurt. Once [Perry ] got on the field, that combination of Denney, Perry and Schoonover has been really, really solid for us.” Arkansas’ winning streak came to an end Saturday with the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings ’ 80-69 victory at Alltel Arena. Had Arkansas won, a victory over Texas would have clinched the Central Division championship, which now depends on a victory over Texas and a loss by Central-leading Tulsa to the Iowa Barnstormers.
Arkansas defensive lineman Tito Hannah said the loss to Bossier-Shreveport confirmed what he and his teammates learned against Texas.
“We’re not the New England Patriots,” Hannah said. “We can’t just show up and expect to win. Those guys from Texas are trying to win, too.
“ Even when we’re not playing our best, we should win. But, at the same time, if we don’t capitalize on their mistakes and they capitalize on ours, it don’t matter who we play. They’re going to beat us. No matter who we play, we have to be ready and play our game.” Arkansas Twisters vs. Texas Copperheads WHEN 7: 05 p.m. today WHERE Alltel Arena, North Little Rock RECORDS Arkansas 10-5; Texas 2-13 SERIES Texas leads 1-0 LAST MEETING Texas won 37-30 on April 19 COACHES Chris Siegfried (10-5 in first season at Arkansas, 67-31 in sixth overall ); Ollie Guidrey (2-13 in first season at Texas and overall ) RADIO KABZ-FM, 103. 7, in Little Rock INTERNET www. 1037 thebuzz. com; http // nifty-tv. com / af 2 /
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